Why power from the wind generates more CO2 than burning natural gas

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"...However, sometimes Norway and Sweden refuse to take Danish wind power because reservoirs are already full, or are going to be full due to snow and rain fall, etc. In that case Vestas, using its computerized control center that controls ALL wind turbines in Denmark, would reduce the output of a percentage of them (by feathering the blades or stopping them), according to pre-planned sequences. This MO is much easier than requiring hundreds of small district heating/electrical plants or a few big central power plants to reduce THEIR outputs. In case of little snow and rain fall, hydro plant reservoir levels may be low and any wind power from Denmark, if available, would be useful to pump water from lower reservoirs to upper reservoirs.

All this back-and-forth gymnastics is inefficient and uneconomical, as various studies have shown. One indication of this inefficiency: Denmark has the highest residential electric rates in Europe, whereas its commercial rates are kept at about one third of the residential rates for international competitive reasons. France, 80% nuclear, has one of the lowest electric rates in Europe."

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"Implementing CCGT (combined cycle gas turbine) power instead of wind power appears to be the best choice, by far. The enormous ADDITIONAL capital costs and annual owning and O&M costs for the wind power and cycling facilities could be much more effectively used for investments in increased energy efficiency which would reduce CO2 far more effectively per invested dollar than either CCGT or wind power."

http://theenergycollective.com/willem-post/57905/wind-power-and-co2-emissions?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=The+Energy+Collective+%28all+posts%29